Stay Connected

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Is this frugal, or is it just cheap?

Happy New Year! Welcome, 2014!

Not much today, just a question. . .



When I find a drinking glass with water still in it, (left by someone in the family), I dump the water on a houseplant.

Am I being frugal, or am I just plain ol' cheap?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have plans for today? Just hanging around the house, or are you going out? We're heading over to a friend's house later today. I've baked a loaf of rosemary bread (just my multi-purpose French bread dough with 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary added), and an apple crisp (about the last of the garden apples), to take with us.

Have a great day!





25 comments:

  1. I walked outside last night to pour a drinking glass of water onto a potted plant. I say frugal :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Brandy! So lovely that you can walk outside in the evening where you are!

      Delete
  2. Neither, it's environmentally conscientious to repurpose the drinking water vs just dumping it down the drain. If you pay a sewer charge (well and septic here) then it's frugal as less water going into the system saves you pennies. Mind the pennies, the dollars will soon follow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carol,
      Happy New Year Year!
      The other thing to consider concerning being on a sewer system, the less we all add to the sewers, the fewer new treatment plants need to be built, saving all of us money in the long run. Our area just added a new treatment facility, and we saw the sewer portion of our bills skyrocket, to cover the construction costs.

      Delete
  3. I agree with CTMOM. From an environmental perspective it's the right thing to do. I do this all the time. It's a habit I got from my mom. Growing up she always emptied the water glasses in the houseplants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Rocaway!
      I don't recall my mom ever pouring water from glasses into houseplants, but my grandmother did this, always. Habits die hard, don't they? I'm now training my kids to do the same.

      Delete
  4. It just seems smart. No extra effort, essentially no thought, just doing what's smart. Those are the kind of things we all should be doing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      Happy New Year! It does just seem smart/sensible, doesn't it? If I have the choice, empty it into the sink, or take 4 steps and empty it into a plant, and save money/water/sewer charges, it just seems like a no-brainer.

      Delete
  5. Happy New Year!
    I give the plants leftover water when I remember, so I'd say frugal and environmentally friendly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Sharon!
      This is so reassuring to know that I am not the only one who does this! I sometimes feel like I must appear to be cheap to other people!

      Delete
  6. All of the above! Either a plant or the cats water dish gets it here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Judy,
      Happy New Year! When we had a cat, she just helped herself to any water left in a glass. When the water level got too low to stick her head in, she learned to dip a paw into the water and lick her paw! Meanwhile, she ignored the water that I set in a dish for her. She preferred glassware to plastic, I guess.

      Delete
  7. Happy New Year! In our area, there are some good sales on and because everyone is recovering from the previous night, no crowds to deal with! I've been shopping and the rest of the day (and it's miserably cold here) will be spent indoors (I'm rockin' my Michigan State sweatshirt, FYI--go Spartans!).

    I tend to think of things as "wasteful" versus "not wasteful" based on how I was raised--so you are being "not wasteful"--I know the PC way to say that is environmentally friendly! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      Happy New Year!
      Some years, I take advantage of empty stores to do some shopping. This year, we're going over to friends, so that sort of nixes any shopping plans. (I'm waiting for better sales at Penneys, on men's sweaters, later this month, anyway. I have a thought to pick up a couple for Valentine's gifts. 3 years ago, we got amazing prices on men's sweaters in mid-January.)

      Wasteful vs. non-wasteful is more how I grew up, and tends to motivate me more than frugality. I just can't stand waste. I like to know that everything was used with purpose.

      Delete
  8. I would put that in the lazy category... avoiding one extra trip to the kitchen! Of course, in my book lazy is good. :-)

    And are those African Violets? I thought you weren't supposed to "dump" water into them because they die if the water touches their leaves... I fear I've killed many an African Violet in my day...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi cat,
      Happy New Year!
      Well, if it is lazy, I do think we need to find some areas of our lives that we can be easy on ourselves. So much of life is hard work. A little laziness might also be called rest or ease.

      Hmmm, you know, I am terrible with houseplants. Maybe this could explain why, in part?! However, I've managed to keep this one African violet alive for about 6 years now. I currently have leaves rooting in soil. A just-in-case measure, should I kill this one, too.

      Delete
    2. "Rest or ease" now there's a refreshing way to look at it! :-)

      Delete
  9. Frugal and environmentally conscious would be my answer. I do the same thing to save on water usage when I find a glass of water after guests leave. Plus, where I live our water bill is calculated based on the sewage amount. Meaning only what goes down the drain counts as the amount of water we used when calculating the bill so any amount saved from going down the drains is a savings financially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lois,
      Here, our sewer bill is based on water usage. Plus, just this fall they instituted a tiered billing schedule. So the more water we use each month, the higher rate we pay for some of that water.

      Our sewer bill is now in the outrageous department, due to the rise in fees, and a new treatment facility in the area for the users to pay for. So, I try to limit our waste as much as possible.

      Yes, I think it's just a sensible and wise thing to use that water somewhere, on plants, a pet's water bowl, to flush a toilet, etc.

      Delete
  10. I'd call it common sense for so many reasons, taking advantage of already poured water, not wasting it, being environmentally friendly and more. The only time it wouldn't be common sense is if the plants were already watered and didn't need any water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jayne,
      Common sense is a good way to put it. And even if the plants can't use the water, a pet's bowl, or flushing the toilet, or added to the wash tub for laundry would all be good uses for already-poured water.

      Delete
  11. Frugal, water-concious (we live in an area where there is almost always drought), whatever you want to call it, it is just plain good stewardship of resources. :) Since I don't have houseplants (I seem to kill plants indoors), those glasses with water in them are dumped in pet water bowl. I figure it's good filtered water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cat,
      I'm lousy with indoor plants, too. Only I'm just optimistic enough to think that "this plant will be different". The ones that have survived are truly hardy, to have survived my care.

      Delete
  12. If I didn't do that, my plants would never get watered. That's not just frugal, it's green & great for ADD types like myself. Black thumb no more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shelly,
      Too funny! It made me think, "when was the last time that I did an official watering of the plants?" Oops! I better put that on tomorrow's list of stuff to do!

      Delete

Thank you for joining the discussion today. Here at creative savv, we strive to maintain a respectful community centered around frugal living. Creative savv would like to continue to be a welcoming and safe place for discussion, and as such reserves the right to remove comments that are inappropriate for the conversation.

FOLLOW CREATIVE SAVV ON BLOGLOVIN'

Follow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a voice that helps someone else on their frugal living journey

Are you interested in writing for creative savv?
What's your frugal story?

Do you have a favorite frugal recipe, special insight, DIY project, or tips that could make frugal living more do-able for someone else?

Creative savv is seeking new voices.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

share this post